As the business school of a premier technological university, the Robert A. Foisie Business School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute integrates science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) into the undergraduate and graduate programs.
Consistent with WPI’s mission of theory and practice, a project-based approach to learning and doing pervades the WPI Foisie Business School’s curriculum. Our students take advantage of the university’s strong relationships with technology-intensive organizations around the world and a network of more than 50 global project centers.
Graduates of the WPI Foisie Business School are prepared to lead at the intersection of technology and business, applying entrepreneurial thinking and harnessing the power of technology and teamwork to solve complex human problems.
This year, WPI FBS's MBA program debuts at #7 in the third annual ranking of online MBA programs in the US by Poets & Quants, one of the leading business school ranking bodies. Of particular note was the strong alumni survey results—the most recent graduating class rated the STEM MBA fifth in total academic experience and career outcomes. When asked if they accomplished a primary career goal directly because of the online MBA, 100% said yes. Read more.
My courses aim to develop expertise in financial decision-making by focusing on frequently used financial accounting information and the conceptual framework for managing financial problems. Students are introduced to the accounting and financial concepts, and principles and methods for preparing, analyzing and evaluating financial information. The overall objectives are to manage financial resources of a business enterprise and to make investment decisions.
As one of my students once said, the only people who do not use accounting are people who are no longer alive. Yet, few people understand accounting well enough to use it to make informed decisions.
Dr. Hansong Pu has decades of managerial and entrepreneurial experiences with international corporations and small businesses. He spent his past eight years teaching at Hangzhou Dianzi University in China and WPI. Meanwhile, he worked with colleagues at both universities to start collaboration programs that serve the students and faculties on both sides, including the WPI China IQP Center.
Rob joins WPI from Fidelity Investments, where he spent 23 years in the finance industry, holding multiple executive leadership positions including VP of Strategy and Planning, VP Human Resource Systems, and VP Finance, Procurement, and Accounting Systems. Rob also previously held positions in both the public and private sectors for companies in the manufacturing and nonprofit industries.
I have been practicing law for 37 years with a concentration in corporate, business and healthcare law. I have been at Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie Lougee, LLP since 1980. I am currently Of Counsel in the Corporate and Business Department.
For many reasons, I am surprised to find myself at WPI. Previously, I lived in my hometown and was employed at my alma mater, never intending to leave. But WPI presented an opportunity that was too exciting to miss. This is an institution that stresses innovation and entrepreneurship, and those have been the focus of my career. The environment here is vigorous and challenging. Students expect to work hard and to be exposed to new ideas. The emphasis on project-based learning is a marvelous fit with the entrepreneurial mindset.
Professor Gonsalves is currently a full time instructor in the Foisie Business School. He is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Management Science.
Professor Gonsalves’ career has spanned thirty five years in the technology field, having held positions in design, applications, sales, marketing, business development and management. He is the holder of 9 patents and has presented at a variety of industry conferences in the area of RFID.
Being an educator is more than just distributing facts and figures; it's demonstrating the importance of this knowledge in a way that can be relevant for every learner. It's not truly knowledge until the student can grasp and apply it. I consider myself to be an advocate for knowledge - encouraging learning and providing the tools needed to be successful and independent thinkers. I take any opportunity possible to introduce new technologies and social networking behaviors that I feel are relevant into my daily classroom activities.
Purvi has 'done' marketing and now she 'teaches' marketing at the WPI Foisie Business School. She has a diverse industry experience in the marketing/brand management function of mid-size to large corporations across consumer goods, retail, and real estate verticals. In academics, she aspires to play her role as a researcher (knowledge creation) and teacher (knowledge dissemination). Her research questions, in the context of discovery, attempt to explain and understand interesting and challenging marketing phenomena that have not received much research attention.
Since arriving at WPI in 1990, I have framed my role in the classroom as helping technically-minded students to become more cognizant and mindful of the complex human and behavioral dimensions of life in organizations. I have done this in a variety of ways from experiential exercises to digital storytelling to classroom-as-organization designs.
Brent manages the $8M FBS budget and operations for 40+ people assigned to the School. He’s a WPI grad (MBA, 2006) and teaches organizational behavior and leadership. Brent retired from the Air Force as a Colonel after 27 years of active and reserve service. Highlights include three tours in/around Afghanistan, command of a 450-person security squadron, and staff tours at AFSOC, USAF HQ, and with SECDEF. Formerly an Associate Professor at the Naval War College, Brent also spent 16 years working in a Fortune 500 information technology firm.
As an adjunct faculty member at WPI for 15 years and a WPI graduate, I am proud to share the experience of a successful multi-disciplined career with current WPI students. The foundation and preparation for my engineering, financial, general management, and consulting career and the confidence and resourcefulness to succeed as an entrepreneur resulted largely from my education at WPI.
Jed’s organizational behavior experience is shaped through 15+ years as a human resource leader. His experience includes work as a Change Agent, Director/Manager, and Internal and External Consultant. His consulting services focus on performance management, total rewards, HR analytics, and workplace learning, and his research and teaching experience includes the areas of organizational performance improvement, competency identification, and rewards management.
My classroom is a living-learning lab where students develop the capacity to analyze and navigate a complex and messy web of often hidden interpersonal, group, and organizational dynamics and paradoxes. I regularly stretch students out of their comfort zone, offering immersive, hands-on experiences in which students put analytical frameworks to the test and see what works best for them—given their unique personal and cultural experience.
My research is focused in two areas: Organizational aesthetics takes seriously the idea that management is as much an art as it is a science, and applies art-based scholarship and practice to management and organizations. Reflective practice is the ability to analyze our own actions and learn from that how to be more effective, ethical, and artful as managers and leaders. At the heart of my work as a researcher and teacher, is my own practice as a playwright. My plays have been performed in England, France, Poland, Canada, New Zealand, Italy, and the USA.
I teach both graduate and undergraduate courses, as well as advise PhD projects, IQPs and MQPs. I enjoy teaching because it's a dynamic and innovative process that challenges me to continually evaluate and adjust my teaching strategies to prepare my students for today’s global and competitive business environment. Teaching is also one the most rewarding experiences in my career because it allows me to witness my students' growth and accomplishments.
Dr. Kordzadeh joined the faculty of the Foisie Business School at WPI in July 2017. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration with an emphasis on Information Technology from the University of Texas at San Antonio. His research interests include health informatics, social media, information privacy, and business intelligence and analytics.
Eleanor T. Loiacono is a Professor of Management Information Systems at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She encourages her students to challenge themselves beyond the comfort of the classroom and was awarded the Moruzzi Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education for the development of an externally sponsored design competition requiring students to develop a comprehensive network plan based on a "real" Request for Proposal (RFP). Students find the competition a challenging and valuable exercise in preparing for the future.
WPI provides an environment that values both teaching and research, which is ideal for me. I enjoy teaching at WPI because students are interested in learning and willing to work hard. My teaching focuses on how business, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations can best use computing technologies, such as database systems, electronic health records systems, and mobile apps. Students in my classes learn to design computing applications that meet the needs of organizations.
I enjoy teaching because it allows me to interact with students who have the potential to make the world a better place using technology. I continually innovate in my courses to ensure students enjoy the learning experience, learn the key concepts and skills related to information systems through real world examples, have an opportunity to learn from each other, learn to present themselves as professionals, and most importantly learn to use or develop technology to make a difference.
Prior to arriving at WPI in 2010, I held tenure-track positions with the University of Wisconsin system. I have visited at Cal Poly-SLO, University of Toledo, and Arizona State University. My teaching centers on software development, large business systems, and innovative uses of IT. My overarching research addresses organizational aspects of human-computer interaction with special emphasis on e-health, computer-mediated communication, and technology support for software development teams.
I enjoy teaching at WPI because students bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to their learning, and I am often inspired by their optimism. My teaching also reflects topics that motivate me: detailed process design in our Industrial Engineering program, improving healthcare delivery as part of the Health Systems Innovation certificate, and exploring the implications of operational excellence in our MBA program.
The application of Industrial Engineering and mathematical knowledge has always been a rewarding challenge for me. Over the past several years, I have focused my research in the healthcare industry, which is particularly exciting given the current debates on healthcare reform. Current projects include evaluating anti-human trafficking efforts, computationally characterizing episodes of care from health insurance claim records and examining the impact of physician incentives on patient outcomes.
Since my first day of teaching, I believed that I loved being in the classroom. I enjoy my role as an instructor because it enables me to see directly the outcome of my effort. I like the fact that as someone in higher education, I have the opportunity to make a positive influence on a young person's life. I make every effort to not only deliver the material of the course, but to develop a mentoring relationship with each student to help them grow as individuals and strive for success.
Joseph Sarkis joined WPI as a faculty member in July 2013. He previously served as a faculty member at Clark University and the University of Texas at Arlington. His teaching and research interests are in the fields of operations, supply chain management, and sustainability. He is the author or co-author of over 400 publications. His research is widely cited and earned the designation of highly cited researcher in 2016, 2017, and 2018 from Thomson-Reuters/Clarivate Analytics (Web-of-Science).
I am interested in manufacturing and industrial engineering. My main interests lie at the intersection of manufacturing processes and the financial aspect of the business that relates to these processes. I see my mission as enabling students to become leaders in a business environment and helping them extract value from the processes that drive the organization. We do this by using tools like axiomatic design and Lean Six Sigma methods.
Decision-making is becoming increasingly complex as data expands and resources decrease. My research centers on using prescriptive (integer optimization) and predictive (machine learning) analytics, together with algorithms, to effectively allocate scarce resources. My work employs mathematical modeling and the development of methods and tools to benefit vulnerable and marginalized individuals, groups, and populations.
Joe Zhu is Professor of Operations Analytics in the Foisie Business School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is an internationally recognized expert in methods of performance evaluation and benchmarking using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), and his research interests are in the areas of operations and business analytics, productivity modeling, and performance evaluation and benchmarking. He has published and co-edited several books focusing on performance evaluation and benchmarking using DEA and developed the DEAFrontier software.
I enjoy teaching an interrelated series of topics that combine current industrial methodologies with the basics from academic study that form the foundations for commercial practice. The WPI classes give me an opportunity to share, mentor and steward students through simulated and practical problems, guiding them to plausible and realistic solutions.
What I do: I teach approximately 10 different courses across the schools of business, electrical engineering and computer science. I also do a certain amount of research and publish the occasional paper.
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